Golf…my start

I took up golf after back surgery. I know people who give up golf because of back pain, but for me, I needed a way to increase my rotation and back flexibility that I lost after an injury blew out two disks. I had no expectations of being any good just wanted something fun to do get me out of the house into the vitamin D filled sunshine infused chlorophyll enriched environment. Surprise it worked.

My teacher, Rex Cole, believes everyone is different and when it comes to the golf swing we all need a different cup of Tee. Once I had the ability to hit a ball a hundred yards we worked the short game. The reasoning behind this approach was if I could hit 100 yards straight, if I could putt I could aspire to bogie golf…I still aspire to bogie golf. But now I know how to play. I ‘break a hundred’ on a semi-regular basis. Golf is the only sport I have ever beaten my adult soldier son in. I’m pretty jazzed about that.

The golf swing done correctly incorporates all the components of a full body PNF pattern and a person is rewarded for performing the pattern correctly by a great shot. The club is an extension of the arms set to work together one turning in while the other turns out, momentum helps to carry the club through good patterns in the presence of weakness. Effects of trying to overpower the pattern with force is reflected by shanks and slices and poor follow through, or incomplete patterns show in duffs and skulls, The visual component, often left out of PNF practice, is essential to good golf. Keeping the eye on the ball is tougher than it seems it should be. When the ball sits on the tee and doesn’t go anywhere unless you hit it why is it so hard to make excellent contact? The game is both mental and physical it relies on strength, rhythm, endurance and strategic planning. Golf scoring reflects adaptability to changing circumstances, environments and social interaction. It is a game played with pellets and sticks, a cross between kick the can and darts requesting the distance of over a football field, demanding accuracy of shooting something roughly the size of a silver dollar into a hole about the size of a soda pop can.

I have seen an eleven year old boy shoot par and know people in their 90s who play and would be disappointed if they scored like me on a good day. When I first started playing I met a developmentally disabled gal who loves to go to the driving range and hits a ball close to 200 yards. Some are in it for fun, some play the game seriously but those who play regularly get hooked. Golf is good for you and it feels good…when done well.

I will be adding videos of Fifteen Second Fixes for the golf swing to the exercise section because everybody has it’s own areas of tightness. Hitting a ball incorrectly can jam a shoulder, neck. rib, hip, knee or back into a new compressed position that changes that sweet swing path into a crooked disorganized, push or pull that deteriorates with each repetition and then causes over thinking to try to change. If you restore the original position, the original swing returns.There are several components of the swing each of them affects the others. Without affecting the pace of play simple stretches can help keep consistency of a swing.